Travel – Seymour, IN

Seymour is a city in Jackson County, Indiana, United States. The population was 21,569 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Jackson County. It was platted in 1852 by landowner Meedy Shields and named after a railroad engineer.

Seymour developed as a railroad town after the north–south Jeffersonville Railroad and the east–west Ohio and Mississippi Railroad intersected in the early 1850s, leading to the city to be nicknamed the “Crossroads of Southern Indiana.” In October 1866, the local Reno Gang carried out what is considered to be the first peacetime train robbery in the United States—an episode that brought vigilante reprisals and lasting notoriety. During World War II the U.S. Army Air Forces operated Freeman Army Airfield southwest of the city, a training base later known for the 1945 Freeman Field mutiny, a milestone in the desegregation of the U.S. military.

The modern economy is anchored by manufacturing and distribution led by the automotive-parts maker Aisin, which opened a Seymour plant in the 1980s. Beginning in the late 1980s, the city drew substantial immigration from San Sebastián Coatán, Guatemala. Its Hispanic population grew rapidly in the early 21st century, reshaping the community and drawing state scrutiny of the city’s policing policies in 2024. Seymour is the hometown of rock musician John Mellencamp and holds an annual Oktoberfest reflecting its 19th-century German heritage.